Industrialists Nadir Godrej & family, Rekha Jhunjhunwala and Utpal Sheth of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Rare Enterprises and Karan Bhagat of 360 ONE were among 12 industrialists and CXOs to buy ultra luxury properties in Mumbai in the first nine months of 2024.
Their combined purchases were worth Rs 1,377 crore. While Godrej was on top of the league table with the purchase of a property at Ruparel House in Malabar Hill for Rs 180 crore, Karan Bhagat of 360 ONE came second with an apartment in Oberoi Realty’s Three Sixty West in Worli for Rs 170 crore.
Rekha Jhunjhunwala, wife of the late legendary investor, was placed third with a Rs 156 crore deal in Rockside Apartments in Malabar Hills. Sheth bought a sea view luxury apartment in Oberoi 360 for Rs 123 crore.
However, the pace of buying by industrialists appears to have come down compared to 2023 when 31 individuals purchased properties worth Rs 4,988.51 crore, according to data culled by Zapkey.com, a real estate data analytics firm. Though the final numbers for 2024 could increase, they are unlikely to match that in 2023, experts said.
The biggest of the luxury property deals came last year when stock market icon and DMart founder Radhakishan Damani’s friends and family bought 28 apartments worth Rs 1,238 crore in Oberoi 360 West. Damani also bought a bungalow in Malabar Hill in South Mumbai for Rs 1,001 crore in 2021.
The year 2023 also saw Taparia Family of Famy Care buying a luxury apartments in Lodha Malabar in Malabar Hill for Rs 369.55 crore and Pradeep Aggarwal and Rajesh Aggarwal of Kandoi Fabrics buying apartment in the same residential complex for Rs 325.56 crore.
“Stock markets have done well and many companies are going for IPOs which have created a lot of wealth. I feel this has fueled demand for luxury properties,” said Sandeep Reddy, co-founder at Zapkey.com
Amit Goenka , managing director and CEO at Nisus Finance , a Mumbai based fund manager, said :”Large companies have done exceptionally well in terms of growth , profit margins and market cap and promoters and CXOs have seen huge growth in their capital on the back of listed shares and ISOPs. One of the natural investments to reduce impact of capital gains is real estate. Hence we are seeing a lot of purchases of ultra luxury apartments.